The Journey to Last a Lifetime
by InfiniteStarlight
Summary: Have you ever woken up and felt as though your day was going to be brilliant? You felt infinite and as though nothing can pull you down from your good mood? Well this is how Hermione Granger felt... But how long will this feeling last when she gets to Hogwarts and discovers she has to marry Draco Malfoy because of the new marriage law?(PS. Draco is a veela and Hermione is his mate)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N- This is my very first fanfic which I have ever done so any comments or suggestions would be helpful- please tell me by reviewing! I had no clue of what to call this fanfic so I decided on 'The Journey to Last a Lifetime'. I don't know whether to carry on or not so could you tell me that to by R&R please. cyaaa!:D

* * *

Have you ever woken up and felt as though your day was going to be brilliant? You felt infinite and as though nothing can pull you down from your good mood? Well this is how Hermione Granger felt as she lay on her bed, in her brightly colour room surrounded by books. She had gotten a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry four years ago and although she had been there for quite a few years she couldn't help but feel pure happiness for the adventures, friends and no doubt numerous amount of books which would await her this year at the school. Hermione had always been very intelligent the whole way through primary school and through-out her time at Hogwarts. Honestly most people either called her 'teachers pet' or 'Gryffindor princess'. She was the first one in her foundation class to write her name fully, the first to know all of her times tables and when she took her OWLS she got alls O's: the best levels in her class, so she was looking forward to the challenge of having to another year of learning about things she had never even heard of.

Hermione was just about to start her seventh year at Hogwarts and her best-friends had turned out to be the one and only Harry Potter who she had read about before she started the school. She was still shocked that they had ended up being friends but she would never tell him that. Then there was Ron who she had a massive crush on but she wouldn't tell him that either. Hermione finally pulled herself out of the daze she had ended up in and picked up her trunk which she had packed two nights ago. 'I wonder what journey I will go on this year', she thought to herself.

If only she knew...


	2. Chapter 2

Thankyou to the people who have followed my story and a special thankyou for naureen97 who reviewed my work. I have made it a little longer this time:). Hope you enjoy it and R&R please x

* * *

"Hermione, come on, we've got to go", her mother shouted up the stairs.

"It's ok, I'm coming", Hermione replied through-out her panting as she dragged her trunk down the stairs, which was overly heavy due to all of the profound amount of books she had squashed in.

As Hermione reached the bottom of the stairs her father took her trunk off of her and wobbled under the weight of it, but he managed with a lot of moaning to carry it to the boot of the car and put it in. Hermione got into the back-seat of her car with her mother and father in the front talking about her future, as per usual. "I can't wait for the day she will leave Hogwarts and join the family business", they would say. Sure, being a dentist was a fine job, but Hermione had higher aspirations than this. She didn't want to become just another ordinary person when there was a whole other world which she had lived in for the past four years. She loved it there, it was where she belonged, but sometimes parents just don't understand and unfortunately her parents were the type who probably never would. The car journey seemed to take a tremendously long time as they drove to Saint Pancras' train station. As soon as they arrived Hermione practically jumped out of the car, retrieved her trunk and proceeded to the wall in between platforms nine and ten. Hermione turned back to wave at her mother who waved back with that fake smile on her face which she put on to make it look as though she wanted Hermione to go, but in all honesty she thought it was a waste of time. In her mother's eyes Hermione was 'messing around with child's play' and she was 'never going to have a good career and a normal life with magic', she thought Hogwarts was stupidity. Then again, she would never know what it is really like to be part of the enchantment which is wizardry. Hermione suddenly remembered how she had felt that morning and she decided she wasn't going to let her parents and their views affect her mood today.

Hermione ran at the wall at full speed, she just wanted to get to Hogwarts as fast as she could and away from her parents at the same rate. She knew her parents meant well, but it made her sick to her stomach when she thought of leaving her own perfect world behind. It was non-negotiable. She was going to stay. 'Ok, now stop thinking about it', she said to herself.

As she looked around Platform 93/4 she spotted Harry and Ron muddled in the crowd getting onto the train. Hermione made her way to the nearest door to board the train, she wanted to put her suitcase away without any hassle, but as she was walking to the door she was knocked to the ground.

After the shock of the fall Hermione looked up to see who the culprit was. As her eyes made their way to the person's face she thought she recognised him from somewhere. Those grey eyes, she'd seen them before. They looked menacing but there was something else, another emotion...

"Getting up, Granger?", he said as he held out a hand to offer to help her up. It was only then that she noticed who he was, that bright blonde hair, grey eyes. It was none other than Draco Malfoy.

* * *

It's going to be from Draco's POV in the next chapter, cya soon :D..


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling. I own the storyline:D

A/N- Thankyou to 5th year Slytherin, I hadn't noticed those mistakes so it was really helpful. Please make suggestions and comments. Also thankyou to the people who have followed x

* * *

Flashback

Narcissa Malfoy sat at the end of her sons bed waiting for him to wake. She knew the day would come when it would be necessary to have this talk.

"Draco", she whispered softly as she stroked his platinum blonde hair. His looks had changed drastically. He just hadn't realised yet.

"Whaft dop youh wants", he replied. His words muffled by his pillow.

'Best to say it quickly and let it sink in, than drag it out' she thought to herself.

"Draco, you'reaveela", Narcissa said unbelievably quickly.

"What?", Draco said with curiosity.

"Draco, you're a veela", she repeated more slowly.

"I know what you said, why the hell didn't you tell me? You didn't think that I would want to know that I'm some kind of freak. I don't even know what a veela is, all I know is they are some kind of animal!? Seriously, I don't believe you", Draco shouted with venom at his mother.

"Stop making a big deal out of this Draco, you are not a veela yet. You will turn fully on your seventeenth birthday in three months", Narcissa said with sternness in her voice. "Anyway, a veela just has heightened senses and better looks than an ordinary person, you are still a human darling".

"Okay, that doesn't sound too bad I guess. So I just have better hearing and looks than everyone else?" Draco asked as he started to calm down.

"Well yes, there's only one more thing. You will have a mate who you will care for more than anything in this world. You will be attracted to this person and you will have a bond which can only be made when you and the person truly love each other", Narcissa said.

"No way", Draco mumbled. He had never been in a serious relationship with just one girl. Usually he just got with whoever he felt like, but it was normally Pansy Parkinson because she was always throwing herself at him. 'Please, please, please don't let it be her. Anyone but her', he thought to himself.

End of flashback

As Draco entered Platform 9 and ¾ he smelt the most wonderful flowery scent in the world. He instantly felt drawn to it and he started to locate where it was coming from. He walked over to where he could smell it coming from and just as he got there he accidentally knocked someone over.

He looked down at the person he had just knocked to the ground. The curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes which met his were amazingly beautiful. Immediately he recognised who it was and he inwardly cursed himself for thinking it.

"Getting up, Granger", he said as he held out a hand to help her up.

'Why are you being so nice to her?' he thought to himself 'just put down your hand and let her get herself up', but he couldn't, it was impossible. Half of him wanted to help her and he had no clue why but that side of him just wanted to hold her, but the other half of him wanted to spit on her and leave her there.

Hermione took his hand then stood up and as she did this Draco felt a shiver down his spine at how soft her skin was.

'What does this mean?' Draco thought to himself. However he knew exactly what it meant. He just didn't want to admit it yet...

* * *

A/N- will be back in Hermione's POV next time


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling.

* * *

A/N- Thankyou to everyone reading. You are all amazing x.

* * *

"Thank you", Hermione mumbled awkwardly.

She had felt a weird sensation when she had touched his hand and it made her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach. And she didn't like it, she didn't like it at all.

Hermione picked up her trunk and walked swiftly onto the train, leaving Draco standing there alone and utterly speechless.

Hermione looked in to all of the compartments until she spotted Harry and Ron engrossed in a conversation. They were most likely arguing about quidditch teams or something similar. Hermione could still never understand why people were so interested in playing the sport. She enjoyed watching it, she just didn't find the idea of putting her life at risk for a game appealing.

"Hiya", Hermione said as she entered the compartment and put her case above the seats.

"Hey", Harry and Ron said in unison.

"Where did you get to? We didn't see you on the platform", Harry asked.

"I... ermm... just ran in to Luna on the Platform and we started talking", Hermione replied unconvincingly. She didn't know why she had felt the need to lie, but she guessed it would just get them asking questions and make them become seriously mad with Draco if she told them that he had pushed he over by accident and then offered to help her up. However even she still didn't understand why he had done that.

"Oh yeah, how is Loony Lovegood lately", Ron asked.

"She's fine, she says she had a good holiday and stop calling her Loony Lovegood, Ron, it's really offensive and degrading" Hermione replied quite harshly. Even if they asked Luna if her and Hermione had spoken to her, she wouldn't know what was happening.

"Ok, don't get your knickers in a twist", Ron said mockingly. Hermione didn't even know why she liked him. He was so annoying sometimes.

Hermione didn't reply to Ron's last statement. Instead she decided to get 'Hogwarts: a History' out of her bag and sit in the corner reading, leaving Ron and Harry to carry on with their in depth discussion on quidditch.

Before Hermione knew it the train was slowing to a halt. 'Time really does fly fast when you are having fun', Hermione thought to herself. Over the summer Hermione had gotten her Head Girl badge which was no surprise seeing as she was the mostly intelligent in her class and she remembered she had to meet at the front compartment.

"I've got to go to the front compartment to meet the Head Boy", Hermione informed Harry and Ron.

"Ok, good luck. Hoping you don't get a Slytherin working with you", Ron said as Hermione walked out of the compartment.

As she walked down the corridor she saw all of her friends which she had missed over the holidays. Finally she got to the front of the train and she looked to her left to see inside the Head's compartment. She could not believe what she saw. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were sat inside. She got on quite well with Blaise because they had done a project together in the previous year, 'but don't let it be Malfoy, _anyone_ but Malfoy', Hermione thought.

Without hesitation she slid the door open and walked inside.

"Hey Hermione", Blaise said, greeting her.

"Hey Blaise, are you Head boy?", Hermione asked. She secretly prayed that it was him.

"No, I'm just here for Draco's moral support", he replied.

Hermione noticed Draco give Blaise a glance and the quote 'if looks could kill' sprung into her mind.

"Right then, Draco: I'll leave you with Hermione", Blaise said, giving Draco a knowing look.

Draco had just told Blaise his suspicions before Hermione had entered and therefore 'Blaise would be dropping numerous amounts of hints in the next few weeks to come', Draco thought to himself.

* * *

A/N- The next chapter they will be the first chapter in the school. Review please, I could really use any suggestions possible x.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N- Thank you again to the people who are following and thank you to LadyAirie25 for pointing that out- it was helpful. If you have any suggestions please tell me by reviewing x.

* * *

Hermione walked in to the compartment and sat down opposite Draco, waiting for him to say well... _anything_. After a few moments of silence the atmosphere had become tense and uncomfortable.

Hermione's attention was drawn to the door as Professor McGonagall slid it open and walked in.

"Welcome back to your seventh year at Hogwarts. I hope you have had a good summer. As you know you two have been appointed the heads of the year and as you also may have heard, along with this you will be put in to dormitories which are saved especially for the heads of each year", Professor McGonagall told them.

"What do you mean?, I have to share a dormitory with him", Hermione asked in desperation as she pointed towards Draco.

"Not in the same room, Miss Granger. You will have a shared common room which will lead off in to your separate rooms", Professor McGonagall replied.

"No way", Hermione mumbled.

'Draco's being very quiet. I'm surprised he hasn't started shouting at Professor McGonagall yet', Hermione thought. Something was wrong, he was taking the news too well.

"Get your trunks and follow me. I will show you to your new common room and tell you the password to get in", Professor McGonagall said.

As Hermione was following Professor McGonagall she was constantly aware of Draco's presence beside her. It was almost as though she could feel his stare burning a whole in the side of her face.

"Bertie Botts every flavour beans", Professor McGonagall said very clearly to the painting on the door when they had reached the common room. "Professor Dumbledore has always had quite the taste for the sweets, although I will never know why", she added.

"Ok then, I will leave you to settle in to your new rooms and please feel free to visit me if you have any problems", Professor McGonagall said as the door opened and Hermione and Draco walked inside. Hermione noticed that as the Professor said the last statement she had looked at her and it was clear that she was aiming it at Hermione.

"Thank you", Hermione replied.

"Oh, and one last thing: you will not be attending the new years sorting as you will need to unpack and then you have your first task written on a sheet of paper in your common room", Professor McGonagall added.

Hermione smiled at the Professor before she walked all of the way into the room and put down her trunk. As she looked around her new living quarters she couldn't believe the beauty of the place. The room had been painted light green and silver to meet the Slytherin requirements and the furnishings were a lovely shade of red and gold to represent Gryffindor.

"Wow", Hermione said, utterly speechless. However as she turned around to look at Draco she noticed that he was no longer standing next to her. He was in the doorway to his dormitory looking around.

Hermione walked over to her room and as she stood in her doorway she couldn't believe it. The whole of the room was gold and in the middle there was a massive bed which looked so appealing to her right now,seeing as she was fairly tired.

She had stood there for quite sometime admiring the room and she then felt someone come up behind her. She could feel the heat radiating off him, he was so close to her.

"Errm... these rooms are really nice", Hermione whispered as she tried to shake herself out of comfortable mood she was in. 'I shouldn't want him near me. This is so wrong' Hermione thought but she couldn't move away. Instead she leaned closer in to him. 'What does this mean?', she thought to herself...


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N- You are all amazing for following:). Thankyou so much and I hope you enjoy x.

* * *

Hermione had rushed quickly in to her room after about five minutes of her looking around the room in an awkward silence with Draco standing dangerously close behind her. She slammed the door shut quickly and stood up against the door whilst trying to make her breathing come at an equal pace again. There was something about Draco which made her nervous. Something had changed with him over the summer because the whole time they had been together up to now he had not insulted her with the normal names like 'mudblood' or 'bookworm'.

After her erratic heart had stopped beating quite as fast she picked up her trunk off the floor, where she had dropped it in her hurry to get in to the room, and she started to unpack. In true Hermione style she put her clothes away folded in neat piles inside her drawers which she had designated for the different types of clothing she had brought. Once she had finished putting her things away she took a deep breath and opened the door. She had expected to see Draco in the common room or in his dormitory but the common door room was left open which implied that he had gone out.

Hermione sighed. She wanted to get on with the assigned work, but there was no way she was going to do it all by herself. It wasn't just her responsibility.

Hermione went out through the open common room door and went in to the corridor to look for Draco, but he was no-where in sight. She decided not to give up on looking for him so she went down to Professor Snape's dungeons to check if he was there. Hermione was reminded of Ron's saying 'it's a creepy place, he's a creepy bloke' and she smiled to herself. As she thought this she missed a step and she got a horrible sickly feeling in her stomach as she fell through the air. 'Well... I'm definitely going to be breaking something', she thought. However as she reached the floor she was stopped from colliding with the floor by a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and head. Hermione opened her eyes and looked up at her saviour. The grey eyes which met her gaze belonged to Draco Malfoy. His arms made her feel unbelievably secure and Hermione felt scared at this realisation.

"Err.. thank you again", Hermione said, referring to the previous time when he had helped her up on Platform 9 and ¾.

"It's ok", Draco mumbled back.

Hermione stood up and walked up the several steps she had walked down before she had fallen.

"Where were you? I was looking for you so that we could do the first assignment", Hermione asked.

"I was just going to the Slytherin common room to get a book I had left with Blaise", Draco replied calmly.

Hermione nodded and she stumbled to the side as she got in to the corridor. Instantly Draco was there holding her up. This is just bizarre, he is being so helpful', Hermione thought.

"How did you find me before I hit the steps anyway?", Hermione asked, giving him a curious look.

"I was just walking past to go back to our common room when I saw you walking down to the dungeons", Draco replied. He had never been so glad that he was good at lying.

"Oh, ok".

"Right, lets take a look at the first task", Draco said.

They both walked over to the table and Hermione picked up the gold coloured envelope which contained their first task. Hermione slipped her finger under the opening to the envelope and opened it to reveal a letter. The letter read,

x-o-x

Dear Hermione and Draco,

I would like to inform you that your first task is to start the preparations for the Yule ball. Think about a colour scheme and decorations which would suit the great hall. Also I have some further information to tell you: tomorrow there will be an assembly in the great hall to discuss a new law which has been put in place by the minister of magic. Please do not be late to attending this as the new law will be affecting you. Thank you for your co-operation.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore.

x-o-x

"What new law?", Hermione and Draco said in a confused tone at the same time.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters used or anything used in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N- You are all amazing:D x.

Hermione and Draco had started planning the Yule ball after they got over their confusion of what the new law might be. A new law was a rare occasion and especially when it regarded students. Hermione had decided that the one of the main colours should be white and Draco chose silver which contrasted very well in Hermione's opinion.

Later on Hermione felt her eyes drooping shut as her and Draco sat on the sofa planning what food and various other things should be used at the ball.

"Granger...", Draco whispered.

"Mmm..Hmm?", Hermione mumbled in reply. As she mumbled this her head fell on to Draco's shoulder as she fell asleep.

"Come on Granger... Get up so you can go to bed", he said to her.

When Hermione didn't move he decided to just pick her up and carry her to her bedroom. As he picked her up he noticed that she was unbelievably light and he carried her to her room where he placed her on to the bed. He lifted the cover up from underneath her and he covered her in it to make sure that she was warm enough.

Hermione woke up and she looked at the clock nearest to her which revealed that the time was 7:30: 1 hour later than she usually woke up. Hermione stretched in a cat-like fashion and she got up to hurriedly get ready. Suddenly Hermione remembered that she hadn't in fact fell asleep on the sofa in the common room and she started to wonder how she got in to the bed. 'Well either I slept walk or Draco carried me and put me in to bed', she thought whilst she desperately prayed that the first option was true.

Hermione walked quickly out of the her assigned room and hurried down the corridor and moving stairs to make her way to the great hall where the assembly was being held to introduce the new law, whatever it was.

She walked in to the great hall quietly and sat down in between Harry and Ginny, opposite Ron.

"Good morning, I hope you have all settled back in well and are enjoying your new year at school. Even if it has only just begun. The minister of magic is here to say a few words to you now and I trust that you will take these words in your stride and you will show respect to the minister. Thank you, and here is the minister: Rufus Scrimgeour", Professor Dumbledore said in his usual triumphant voice.

Hermione looked around at the Gryffindor table and all of the faces she saw were either confused or completely scared.

"Thank you Albus. I am here to inform you of the new law which will apply to many of you here. There has been a new marriage law made which will place sixteen year olds and people above that age with their soul mate: the person whom will match them in every possible way. The result of who you are placed with my surprise you, but in the end it will work", the minister said.

The whole of the school went in to an up-roar. In every house people were shouting that they didn't want to be put with someone they didn't choose, while many of the others were screaming at the minister to give them a reason for his actions.

"The reason this is happening is because as you know a war will be arising soon in the wizarding world and our next generation will depend on you and your children. Another reason is that it has come to the ministry's attention that there has been numerous amounts of divorces and this simply cannot go on", the minister carried on "this afternoon at four o'clock there will be another assembly which will include the sorting which will determine your partners. Thank you for your time", he said as he sat back down in his chair next to Professor McGonagall.

'I wonder who I'll be put with', Hermione thought to herself. However she already had an idea of who it might be, and she didn't hate the thought of being put with this person as much as she should.


End file.
